- Ronald Blue Trust has been a great brand. Ronald Blue & Company has been a great brand. But moving forward as Blue Trust is something that we had to think a lot about.
- [Announcer] You're listening to the "Wisdom for Wealth for Life" podcast. Ronald Blue Trust is proud to announce the name change to Blue Trust. In this episode, financial advisor of Blue Trust, Bethany Frymire, leads a talk with CEO of Blue Trust, Nick Stonestreet, Chief Mission Officer of Blue Trust, Russ Crosson, and the Founder, Ron Blue. They discuss why the name change, the thought process behind the change, and what does this mean for the future. Let's listen in now.
- Ron, will you walk us through the start of the firm and your vision of what it would become?
- Well, I had no idea that it would become what it has become, so we'll start there. When I come in here and visit and see all that's going on, I'm just overwhelmed by where Russ and Nick have taken this firm for the last 25 years. But my vision came about by, I started on Wall Street, so I saw kind of the Wall Street perspective on the world, then I had a CPA firm, which I ran for seven years. So I say I went from Wall Street to Main Street and then went into ministry and went to Africa. And I made 10 trips to Africa in 24 months. And I saw, then I saw the third world. So when I look back now, I can see this, I didn't see it at the time, but I had kind of three perspectives on wealth. And I was also being mentored by Dr. Howard Hendricks who was a giant in the holy evangelical world. And Howie, one time we were standing in a hotel, I'll never forget it, in Williamsburg, and Howie said, "Would you consider "taking a look at my finances?" I said, "Well, sure, I'd be happy to." And so he wanted to know how he was doing. And just as a side note, I've looked back and I realized that's the question that everybody wants to answer. How am I doing? And it depends on obviously a lot of circumstances, but they wanna know how am I doing? So when I sat down with Howie and Gene showed 'em their finances and I said, "Howie, you're gonna be in great shape," it was like a load came off of his shoulders and there was a sense of, I'm gonna be okay. And so that was one thing. And I realized having traveled to Africa, that there was a lot more being done in Africa with a lot less money than there was in the American church. We were spending millions of dollars on buildings and they were reaching millions of people with the gospel in Africa. So I thought there was probably a lot of Christians who could use some help in their finances. And so I didn't start out with a grand vision, I started out with a mission. And my mission was, can I help people plan and manage their money so they have more to give away? So the start of the firm was a combination of circumstances, but it was the mission that was the first thing. And then it was God working in incredible ways, as I look back. And so people say, talk to me about a legacy at the firm. I say, "I really don't have a legacy. "What I have is a window to God's legacy." So where Ronald Blue & Company or Trust is today is God's thing. And I happen to have had a window to see the whole thing develop and grow. So I don't feel a personal legacy by any means because I could not have planned what happened at all.
- Right, right. Thank you for sharing that. But without your obedience and your humility, God could never have worked in the way that He has. So thank you.
- I appreciate you saying humility. I'm proud of that. No. No, I am very, very blessed, Bethany. I've lived a long time and seen a lot and am still productive.
- Can you walk through, walk us through a little bit of the naming?
- The naming, yeah.
- Of the firm?
- I started, and I called it Christian Financial Management because it was Christian and it was financial management. And financial planning didn't exist at that time. This was in 1979, '80, '81 that time frame. CFP didn't exist and fee-only financial planning didn't exist. That term didn't even come into existence until later. And most of the financial advice was transactionally based. And what God allowed me to do was make it transformational. And sometimes I illustrate it this way, I'll take "The Wall Street Journal" hold it up and say, "Here is knowledge and good knowledge, "and you need to read this every day." And then I hold up the Bible and I say, "You need to read this every day, too." And I take "The Wall Street Journal" put it inside the Bible and say, "This is what we do is we integrate the best "of professional knowledge with biblical wisdom "so that people can make good stewardship decisions."
- Incredible. Thank you for sharing. Russ, since you've been here since the beginning of the firm, could you share some of your thoughts on our history?
- We're really a peace of mind company masquerading as a financial services company. Howard Hendricks had peace of mind after Ron showed him he was okay. And that's what happens to many of our clients, they have peace of mind as a result of getting their arms around their financial situation. And then, of course, our mission from day one was to free up resources to fulfill the great commission. From the time Ron went to Africa and came back was to help Christians see how they could be generous, which is really unusual for a financial services firm. So I think what people need to understand is that that's the mission, as Ron said, has not changed and will not change. And Nick's the caretaker. We, as CEOs are just caretakers of whatever we're overseeing. So Ron did that for 22 years, me for 15, now Nick's in his sixth year of being a caretaker of this great mission. So we're talking about a name change, but we were Christian Financial Management, and Ron mentioned that, because Larry Burkett was Christian Financial Concepts. He was teaching the biblical principles and he said, "Hey, Ron, why don't you help people "apply the biblical principles," which is what we've done. And so that was Christian Financial Management. Then we became Ronald Blue & Company. And then we became Ronald Blue Trust, and now Blue Trust. And so I think it's, the name is just an evolving thing, but underneath that name is this bedrock understanding that we are never going away from our mission. That's the DNA of our company, that's why we exist. And then if the Lord tarries, we're gonna keep doing that as long as we have breath to help people free up resource and fulfill the great commission. So it's a compelling mission, it's just incredible. I love it as much as the day I started 43 years ago, even though I was way underpaid back then, it's still okay.
- They were actually thinking of moving the name from Blue when Russ became CEO to Blue Crosson. But it sounded too close to a different company. And Stonestreet Trust is never gonna happen.
- You know, something that comes to my mind though, I'm asked all the time, how did you build the company. How did you start this? How did you make this? And I say, you know, I didn't, because what happened was is I ended up with wealthy Christians all over the country. That's why we had multiple offices. So I said, "Don't even try to do what I did "because I didn't plan it. "And I didn't do it, God did it." And now when I look back, it would not have happened apart from God's hands.
- Sure, sure. Nick, tell us how the new name came about. And what do we need to know about this transition?
- Well, you know, in thinking through having a new name and thinking about the branding, we wanted to really honor the legacy of the firm and make sure that with Blue, that we always honor Ron and what he has built here. And then thinking about having a brand that can carry further and is easier to work with from a logo standpoint. And so I know Ron's probably upset that we dropped the Ronald. But actually, nobody calls him Ronald, so let's just get rid of that myth. We all call him Ron. But Ronald Blue Trust has been a great brand. Ronald Blue & Company has been a great brand. But moving forward as Blue Trust is something that we had to think a lot about. We did a lot of research and talked with a couple thousand clients, actually did some surveying. And what we found was that when we tested the name Blue Trust, that 98% of our clients said it wouldn't change in any way how they do business with us. 1% said they may do less business with us if we changed the name. And 1% said, we'll do more business with you if you changed the name, so it seemed like it wasn't gonna disrupt our clients. But the one thing that we heard loud and clear is that the biblical basis of the firm can't change. And so that's the one thing I want to help our people and our clients to think about is that we're not backing away from biblical wisdom and serving with biblical wisdom. We're not backing away from our commitment to serving Christians and having values that are aligned with serving Christians. In fact, we would double down on that and say we want people to be more intentional about their faith. We want people to read their scripture, the scriptures more. We want people to pray more. We want to be leaning into our faith because it helps us serve our clients better. And so the change in the name to Blue Trust makes it a little bit easier to roll off the tongue, no offense to Ronald. Our logo will probably brighten up just a little bit, maybe have a little bit of a younger feel in some ways. But the devotion and commitment to the scriptures and to God, and to honoring God with this firm and also honoring our past is absolutely at the center of this.
- Russ, how will this change continue to achieve our mission and vision?
- Well, having been here for over four decades, it's exciting to me to see that since what we do is vital, we've got to stay viable. And part of that viability, as Nick said, is you've gotta continually refresh and ask yourself questions, do market research to figure out. And so I'm excited that we're gonna hopefully get past becoming the well-kept secret, you know, and that we'll be more well-known, like Nick said, it rolls off the tongue easier. So, you know, more and more people can experience financial freedom, free up resources and fulfill the great commission. So I'm excited about this next evolution. This will be what I said, the fourth name and, you know, maybe 25 years from now, it'll be something different. But the underpinning is never gonna change and that's the most important thing. But I'm excited to see what God has in store as a result of this, and to me, it's just part of that continuing to be viable.
- Great. Great, thank you for sharing. Ron, how do you feel about this new direction?
- I say it won't change one thing as far as the firm is concerned. The firm's gonna grow because of the excellent service that's being rendered to millions or hundreds of thousands of people in many different ways. It almost doesn't make any difference what the name is in terms of what's gonna happen to the firm. I could not have felt more honored than with Russ and Nick over the years. Have included me in many things and included Judy in many things. So I have felt very, very honored, blessed, pleased to be affiliated with the firm in any particular way.
- Yes, we're honored, as well, that you are a part of things still. Nick, what are next steps and what does this mean for clients and team members?
- Well, the important thing with the next steps is to know what's going to change and what's not going to change. What's going to change is we're gonna have a name that we think it will carry more in the marketplace, Blue Trust. I think we can have a great association with that name. I think it's gonna show up very well. It tests very well. So the name is gonna change to Blue Trust. What's not gonna change is our commitment to service with our clients. It's no account changes, account number changes, new documents to sign, none of that. So everything in the firm runs as usual. And the only thing that's really changing is the name to Blue Trust, and we're really proud of that.
- Great, and what about our team members? Any changes for our team members?
- I don't think there's gonna be any changes for our team members either, other than they'll be carrying a little bit different business card and have a little bit different look on social media and having a new name, new logo that reflects kind of homage to our past and looking forward to our future. So for our team members, no significant changes. To our clients, no significant changes. Name change, it's great. And then not a lot of trouble underneath that.
- Exciting. Thank you for sharing.
- Sure.
- Well, I don't know about each of you, but I am excited. Thank you all for joining us today for this special conversation. God has done so much for us in the past, in the present, and we absolutely cannot wait to see Him do more than we could ever ask or imagine as we trust Him for the future. If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to your advisor or a member of our leadership team. God bless.
- [Announcer] Thank you so much for listening to the "Wisdom for Wealth for Life" podcast brought to you by Blue Trust. Thanks so much for listening and please subscribe to wherever you listen to your podcasts. Trust and investment management accounts and services offered by Blue Trust are not insured by the FDIC or any other federal government agency, are not deposits or other obligations of nor guaranteed by any bank or bank affiliate, and are subject to investment risk including possible loss of the principle amount invested. The information in these podcasts is provided for general educational purposes only. It is not intended as specific individual advice. The client's experience may not be representative of the experience of other clients, and they're also not indicative of future performance or success. Opinions expressed may not be those Blue Trust.